"If slavery is not wrong,
Then nothing is wrong."
~ Abraham Lincoln

After Chantal got more comfortable with the idea of staying with a total stranger she popped the question she had wanted to ask for quite some time.

"Ah... do you have any food? I'm really starving," she asked looking at her lap.

"Gosh! How stupid of me! Of course you would be hungry! What do you want to eat?" Kabe asked after slapping his forehead multiple times.

"I doubt you would be able to cook what I want. Ah what do you have?"

"Pancake mix, popcorn, cereal, am... eggs, bacon, bread, spaghetti..."

"Spaghetti!" Chantal shouted startling Kabe, "Sorry it's just that my mother loved cooking that for me," realising that she was going to burst into tears she stopped herself.

"Well I guess it's spaghetti then," Kabe said gently. He then headed off to the kitchen leaving Chantal to collect herself.

Having decided not to brother her until breakfast was ready he went into the living room to find her sleeping with her head resting on the hand rest of the couch.

He contemplated whether he should wake her or let her sleep. He decided on waking her. As he approached her, her eyes flew open.

"Is breakfast ready?" she asked tiredly.

"Yeah. I was just coming to wake you."

"I know," she said. She got up and then had a long stretch.

When she said this Kabe raised an eyebrow. He knew he wasn't a heavy walker and he also didn't make any sound while he was approaching her.

After they were seated to eat he asked her.

"What do you mean when you said you knew I was coming to wake you?"

A sad look seeped into her eyes.

"It's okay if you don't want to answer it," Kabe rushed out when he saw a change in her expression.

"No it's okay. Am... Well back at the house," she sighed. The memories were just too terrible for her.

"You know that, that... that place was like a brothel in someway. If you're somewhat lucky like me you... you get a room for yourself but it's also not a good thing." She took in a shuddering breathe.

"When Sam wants to... you know," she looked down at her plate, "sell your body to some man, he'd just send one of his men up to your room to get you out to do what he likes to call "getting acquainted with your client". If you were asleep when they bust in they, they... just whip you whether it's on you back or your belly - they don't care. They whipped me just once when I first came there."

She had stopped but she hadn't answered his question.

"What do they whip you with?" Kabe decided on asking.

"The same thing they whipped Jesus with," she then pushed back her chair and stood up. She pulled up her blouse exposing her belly.

Kabe drew in a sharp breathe. The marks on her stomach were deep although it was done two years ago. It obviously got no proper medical attention as there was a big scab that seemed to still bleed at times.

"They whipped me on my belly the first night I was there. From that I never really slept again. Most times I'd sleep with one eye open and the other closed. And I'd wake every five minutes or so, just so it wouldn't happen again. That's why I knew you were coming."

After that Kabe didn't ask her anymore questions seeing that it was just hard for her, so they ate in silence.

After breakfast Kabe led Chantal to the spare room he had so she could take a rest.

"You can sleep fully now. You don't have to worry about anybody at all coming in to hurt you," Kabe reassured her.

"Thank you so much," Chantal said while hugging a surprised Kabe.

He slowly hugged her back, "It comes with the job."

"No it doesn't. It's your heart that made you see right from wrong."

♣♣♣

"Hey Lizzy please don't hang up, just here me out!" Kabe rushed out.

He had been calling Lizzy for over ten minutes and trying to get her to talk to him.

"You want me to talk to you! You're a lair! A human trafficker for Pete's sake! And you want me to listen to you! Do yourself a favour and stop calling my phone!"

"Lizzy! Pleeeease just listen. Hear me out for a sec," Kabe pleaded earnestly.

There was silence coming from Lizzy's side.

"Fine. Two minutes that's all I'm giving you. Time starts... now!"

Knowing that she was serious he began and talked very quickly.

"I'm not a trafficker. I... I just wanted to help her out, help her escape and I'm planning something along with her, to rescue the other girls back at the brothel and I need your help. I know you don't like the idea of girls being used or abused. I know that's not what you stand for. Please."

At the end he just heard the line go dead. He quickly rung back Lizzy's phone but it went straight to voicemail.

"Great. I thought I would have been getting her help. But I guess not," Kabe mumbled to himself.

"Get whose help?"

"Ahhh!" Kabe screamed and fell off the stool he was sitting on.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Chantal apologised and rushed over to help him up.

"It's okay I just didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry."

"No need to apologise."

"You know for the person that you say you are, you're pretty clumsy and you frighten easily."

"Well I can't go pulling a Jackie Chan on some random person now can I?"

"Well..."

"You're finished sleeping already?"

"Yeah. I haven't felt so rested in years."

"Are you being serious?"

"Yeah. Why are you asking?"

"You were sleeping for just fifteen minutes."

"I was?"

"Yes. Was the treatment that bad?"

"Well... it was terrible but I don't know if it really is the culprit of me sleeping for fifteen minutes. I wasn't much of a sleeper back in my regular life you know."

"I get you. I don't sleep much either."

There was a bit of a silence between them and Chantal finding it awkward decided  break it.

"So the most favourite part of your house is your kitchen?"

Kabe chuckled, "No. Why do you think that?"

"Every time I wake, you're always in the kitchen arguing with someone, but this time it's on the phone."

"Oh I didn't -"

"Ssh!"

"What is it?" Kabe whispered.

"Someone just pulled up in your driveway," she replied.

"What!" He then followed Chantal to the front door.

She peeped through the window.

"It's the curly haired girl from this morning," Chantal whispered.

"What is she doing here?" Kabe wondered aloud.

"She's coming up the steps."

Kabe went out the door to meet her closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to help."

"So why didn't you say that over the phone?"

"Oh it died."

Kabe rolled his eyes at her.

"What! It was faster to come over than wait on it to charge. Oh don't tell Ryan I'm here. He'd kill me but mostly you."

"I know that. Come in."

When they both got in Chantal was standing at the door waiting for them.

"Chantal this is Lizzy, Lizzy this is Chantal."

"You're the one he was arguing with on the phone?"

Lizzy looked at Kabe in surprise, "How'd you know that?"

"I heard you guys through the window."

Lizzy looked at the window closest to the door."

"But they're locked. How could you have possibly heard us and we weren't speaking loudly."

Chantal looked at Kabe begging him with her eyes to explain.

"I'll tell you later but for now, I want to know, do you want to join the trafficking ring? Legally that is."

"You sir have lost your head."

"I'm serious."